Vocal Bleed

Posted: Thu Sep 04, 2008 4:49 pm

There is some vocal bleed that can be heard during the mandolin solo.

In this part of the song, there are bass, and guitar microphones active. The vocalist was quietly mouthing the words too keep place in the song. (Normally they don't do a solo, but wanted to put one on the recording.) The solo was recorded later.

You can hear the lyrics "setting sun" twice during the solo bleeding through the guitar microphone.

The style is folk/bluegrass, and they like a very natural sound. Any idea's how to bring this down any more?

In retrospect, I heard the words when we were recorded, but thought that when the vocal microphone was muted, and the solo was in, you wouldn't hear it. So I have learned, if you can hear it, do something about it. I wish we did another take of the break backing.

the sound clip: muted words

Posted: Thu Sep 04, 2008 7:18 pm

For heaven's sake leave it in!!!! Give your music some character. It's bluegrass not techno. The "ghost" words fit. Every bluegrass recording used to have stuff like this back when bluegrass was popular.

My favorite moment in recorded music is the point about 2:30 into "Little" Stevie Wonder's Fingertips Part 2 where Stevie is in a harmonica solo. It's live. The backup bands are switching. Stevie is modulating all over the place. And you can hear the bass player whispering "What key?, What key?."

Posted: Thu Sep 04, 2008 7:28 pm

I just listened to it thru some cheap earbuds, and it's not discernable that it is a voice. sounds more like the sound of fingers wiping up and down the strings.

I doubt that very few listeners would be playing this on studio-grade equipment.

Posted: Thu Sep 04, 2008 7:44 pm

*Jumps at the opportunity of something to test his ears on*
Can't say I can hear it properly.
Now, really, do DA's matter that much that you lose all semblance of clarity even at -30dB?

Or are my ears cloudy...

Posted: Thu Sep 04, 2008 9:39 pm

I don't hear it.

Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 4:34 am

Thanks everyone,

I'll leave it in. Because I know it is there I am probably hearing it, also the mp3 compression buries it a little.

-Steve

Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 5:36 am

I can just about hear the sibilants, but it's cool. Leave it alone.

Far too much is made of issues like this IMO. Everything's so clinical that it has no character. It's the little flaws that make true beauty. If every face were perfect, everybody would look the same.

Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 8:29 am

That mp3 lasted 9 seconds and sounded like someone was playing a mandolin whilst bare foot stomping grapes.
Like a wishy washy squishy sound. And some nasty mp3 compression.

Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 9:12 am

hackenslash,
Well put. I forget this too often.

Greener,
Are you saying the bass is muddy, and the high end is washed out? Yeah, mp3 compression is nasty, although the problem in question is audible. The final cut will not be MP3 with a 128kbps data rate.

I'm just trying to do the best with what I recorded because the band paid me to make a recording of them and capture their style. I know this style of folk bluegrass is not everyone's cup of tea.

Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 9:27 am

Bluegrass almost needs the bustle of a loaded flop joint in the background just for ambiance. It's a non-issue.
So long as the weird wish washy stuff is just from the mp3 compression.

Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 10:49 pm

GeckoMusic wrote:

There is some vocal bleed that can be heard during the mandolin solo.

You can hear the lyrics "setting sun" twice during the solo bleeding through the guitar microphone.

Do you have the singers MIC isolated to its own track? If you do and you wanted to get rid of it on another couldn't you just reverse the phase on that track and match the level of the bleed?

Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2008 4:07 am

Bleed is your friend. Don't fight it!

Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2008 4:12 am

I can hear it, but it just sounds like light string noise to me. There's no way I'd sight that as vocal bleed-through if you hadn't told me. I probably wouldn't have noticed it to begin with. Smile

Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2008 9:00 am

Hardly (if at all) noticeable. With the vocal track in, there's no way it'll be at all distinguishable.

Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2008 2:22 pm

EricUndead wrote:

GeckoMusic wrote:

There is some vocal bleed that can be heard during the mandolin solo.

You can hear the lyrics "setting sun" twice during the solo bleeding through the guitar microphone.

Do you have the singers MIC isolated to its own track? If you do and you wanted to get rid of it on another couldn't you just reverse the phase on that track and match the level of the bleed?

I'll give that a try. I have done that with coincident pairs to isolate a sound, but not with different microphones that are in different places. I'm a little afraid of other phase issues it may introduce.

This topic sponsored by: